~*Chapter Three *~
"Hey, Rosie!" I heard a familiar voice call to me. I turned around and gave Drew a weak smile. "The car is all loaded; it's time to go."
I shifted my backpack on my shoulder and walked towards the door before I had the chance to think about doing anything else. Mom and dad were already at the private airport getting everything organized with the plane, and Drew and I were meeting them there. That's right, mom and dad are coming with us because my mother is Drew's manager.
When we got to the airport, things happened pretty quickly. The tour started in Colorado, so we were flying there, and then driving on a tour bus to the rest of the venues. We got dropped off at the hangar for the plane and then the bags were unloaded from the car, reloaded into the plane, and then we were off.
Drew and I sat next to each other in the last two seats. I glanced over at him and was about to ask if he was excited about the tour. Given that he was fast asleep probably meant that he was a little more tired than excited at the moment. Then again, with how hard he's been working I think it'd actually be weird if he wasn't exhausted. The fact that it was only 5:30 in the morning didn't help either.
Not that I blame him for being tired, though. He's been working non-stop on choreography and doing all kinds of promotionals leading up to the tour. I've only been staying at his house for a week, and I don't think I've ever felt like my life was more meaningless. Here's Drew out there becoming a big star and working his ass off, and then there's me, sitting at home watching reruns of How I Met Your Mother. I kinda realized that through high school I was just so busy trying to get by that I didn't really do much else, and in college I was so preoccupied with being Luke's girlfriend and my crazy class load that I didn't take the time to learn who I am. I'm going to use this summer to not only find a fresh start, but to do some self-discovering too.
~*~*~*~
"Hey, stupid, wake up." I said as I shook Drew's shoulder. The plane was landing and he was still asleep.
"God, you're so friendly." He groaned at me, rolling his eyes. I stuck my tongue out at him and stood up to get off the plane. We got into an awaiting limo that would take us to the hotel we were staying at while we were in Colorado. We were driving and when we passed the hotel I knew we were staying at, I started to get a little confused.
"Just be glad I didn't draw on your face." I replied. "Hey, dad, where are we going?" I saw a Starbucks out the window and almost whimpered. Coffee would be really nice right now.
"To the arena. Drew needs to work on the choreography some more. He's still not quite where he needs to be. We also have to go meet the other artists on the tour. The band, the opening act, the dancers; they should all be there waiting by now." He answered, barely sparing a glance at me from his phone. He was still pretty young. Thirty-seven, actually. And mom was thirty-six. They had Drew and me when they were seventeen and eighteen.
"Oh...so no hotel?" I asked a little sadly. I really wanted to get to the hotel, not the arena, but I guess I won't be getting my way much this summer. I'm not sure what I was hoping to do at the hotel, but I wasn't really in the mood to deal with a ton of people. Getting dumped has made me a bit of an introvert.
"Not right now, pumpkin." He replied, then started talking into the bluetooth device in his ear. I swear if you didn't know better you would think he was talking to himself. It's like when you're driving on the freeway and you pass someone who's alone in their car, and you know that they're either giving a personal concert along with the radio or are talking on the phone, but when you can't hear them they just look fucking crazy. The beauty of 21st Century technology.
"But maybe if you're lucky you'll get to meet your favorite band..." Drew taunted, throwing me a wink. That's right. I'd totally forgotten that little fact. Throw Down is opening for Drew.
"Have you met them yet?" I asked him, looking out the window as we drove.
"Yeah, once when we were setting everything up a little less than a month ago." He replied casually. I gaped at him, my eyes wide.
"And you didn't tell me?!" I exclaimed. Drew chuckled at my expression.
"Somebody threw away their phone." He responded, giving me a pointed look. I rolled my eyes. Details, details.
We rolled into the arena's parking lot which was already full of people awaiting Drew's arrival. I'm not talking about official, important people related to the tour that were out there waiting. No, I'm talking about screaming girls. Hundreds of them. The limo parked right next to the entrance of the arena and the crowd of fans was parted by a large number of security guards.
When the doors opened, all the girls cheered excitedly, thinking Drew was getting out, but were disappointed to see mom and dad. Drew emerged after them and the crowd roared loudly. It was so loud that you couldn't even pick out individual voices or words, it was just a drone of noise. He signed a couple autographs on his way in, despite his previous complaints. I got out after Drew and I honestly don't think a single person noticed me. I was about as invisible as your imaginary friend. I was totally cool with that though. Attention isn't something I was seeking these days.
It's kinda hard being Drew's sister, just because I know for a fact that mom and dad pay more attention to him. I know the rest of the world does too, but they don't matter as much to me. Saying that mom and dad love one of us more would be wrong, but saying that they cared about one of us more...that's a different story. Actually, no it's not. They love him more. He serves a purpose to them, where as I've only ever been a problem. I've said it before and I'll say it again; I understand why they like him better. He's the one that's getting famous and he's the one that was easier to raise. I totally get it, but it still sucks. And they do let me go to a really good college with a hefty tuition fee, so I know I don't have much to complain about.
Drew wasn't discovered by some big name producer or anything like that. He told mom and dad that he wanted to be a pop star when he was nine, and while they didn't really think much of it then, they still got him vocal lessons and because we're twins and twins do everything together (at least mom thinks so) I got vocal lessons for a while too. When he told them the same thing when he was fifteen, mom jumped on it and things have taken off from there. It didn't happen all at once, but now, three years later, here he is, headlining his own tour.
Once we got inside we shook hands with some people who worked for the venue and we were led to what would be Drew's dressing room where all of the things on his rider were easily on display. Two cases of Smart Water, a box of Throat Coat, a six pack of Go-Girl (yes, my brother drinks Go-Girl), some green apples, bananas, green grapes, and a few other things. Drew was ushered off pretty quickly to the stage to go work some choreography and mom and dad went off to go do...something. I wasn't really paying attention when they said where they were going. I hung out in the dressing room for a while, then I grabbed my earbuds to maybe listen to my book on tape..
As I was walking out of the dressing room and heading off to find the stage when I saw someone else walking along. I figured it'd be easier to ask someone where the entrance to the stage was rather than hunt around looking for it. I walked over to the guy, who's back was to me, and started talking.
"Um, hi. Could you by any chance point me in the direction to the entrance to the stage. Well, not the stage, but like the first section of seating?" I asked, feeling myself start to get nervous. The guy turned around and I completely froze. "And you're Aaron Siebel. I am so sorry."
"Yeah, at least I was last time I checked." He chuckled with a lopsided grin. "Sorry, please don't take this the wrong way, but who are you?"
"Oh, right...sorry...I'm, uh, Drew's sister, Rosie." I said quietly, feeling shy. We shook hands and then another person walked in after him making my eyes widen. It took everything I had in me to keep my jaw from saying hello to my shoes.
"Hey, Aaron, have you seen...well, hello." Jase drawled, winking at me. Oh. My. God.
"Uh...hi...uh..." I stammered.
"This is Drew's sister, Rosie." Aaron introduced me. I shook hands with Jason, avoiding eye contact. You'd think that, being Drew's sister and all, I'd be this outgoing, bold person, right? Yeah...not so much. Once I get to know you, it's hard to get me to shut up, but I'm always shy with new people, and famous people, that's a whole different story, especially if they're people I'm a fan of. That being said, I'm kind of a nervous wreck right about now.
"I'm Jase. It's nice to meet you, Rosie." Jase said with a dashing smile. I glanced up and flashed him a quick grin.
"You too." I replied, completely wide-eyed. I was literally about to explode with excitement. You have no idea how hard I was trying not to scream and jump up and down like a psychopath.
"What was I...right, Aaron, we have to get out of here. We've got a signing to go to." Jase informed Aaron. I can't believe they're talking like normal people in front of me. I can't believe they're in front of me! As the two of them kept talking I just stood there listening in disbelief.
"Are Ash and Max already there?" Aaron asked in return. Jase shook his head.
"Not there yet, but in the car and getting impatient. We all know Max's incapable of staying in one place for more than three seconds." They both laughed while I just stood there, completely star-struck. Aaron turned to me.
"It was nice to meet you, Rosie, I guess we'll see you around. Oh, and the entrance to the first section of seats is up the stairs right over there and around the corner. You can't miss it." Aaron threw in at the end. I smiled at him gratefully.
"Yeah, you guys too. Thanks." I replied. They both waved and walked away. Once I was sure they couldn't see me, I did a little happy dance, then followed Aaron's directions and found the entrance to the stage exactly where he said it'd be. I sat down and took in the scene around me. There were probably a couple thousand seats in here. It's one of those arenas that they have basketball games at and stuff like that, so it's set up with big screens above the stage that, when turned on, broadcast what's going on on the floor. The idea of being here and performing would make most people nervous. I know though that one thing Drew and I have in common is that if we're confidant about what we're doing we love an audience.
I started to imagine what my life might be like if I got to keep doing lessons the way Drew did when I had to stop. Would I be here headlining my own tour? The Rosie Daily Experience. For the first time ever, this nagging feeling inside me made me wish that it was me here getting to do all of this instead of Drew. Well, that's not true. I still want him to get to be here and have his show and everything, it's what he loves, but I guess what I'm trying to say is that I'd like to get to have that too.
I wouldn't want to do it the way Drew has completely though. Some of his music is pretty superficial and in all honesty, stupid. And that's not just me being jealous either, he'll tell you himself. Some of his songs have been written for him just because they're 'what's selling now.' I'd want to get to do it my way, where I get to write all my own songs and arrange my music the way I want to. Then again, so does everybody else.
I closed my eyes for a second and it was like I was ejected into an alternate universe. When I opened my eyes again I was standing on the stage, guitar in my hands and the entire stadium was cheering for me. There were spotlights on me and every member of my band and the crowd was chanting my name, waiting eagerly, impatiently, to hear what I'd play for them next. I got this tight feeling in my chest, like I was about to burst with excitement. I felt absolutely elated.
Think about the happiest you've ever been. Maybe your parents got you a puppy for Christmas, or that guy you've liked for forever just came up to you and kissed you until the whole room was spinning and told you he's madly in love with you. In this moment, I feel even happier than that.
Then I heard a thud off in the distance and opened my eyes to find that I was sitting up in the first row of seats, not standing center stage, there were no screaming fans, and I was back to plain old Rosie. I frowned and sighed to myself as I came back to reality. Like you could fill an entire arena up with people that actually like you.
Drew's down there with his choreographer, Christopher, and they were working on one of Drew's songs called 24/Seven. It's totally bubblegum pop crap, and I kinda liked it before the radio stations started over playing it. Now it just makes me cringe. It is a half-decent song though...when I'm in a good mood. The song has this trickey choreography in it that Drew's been struggling with for weeks. There's this part of the song where he has to do this move that's sort of a mix between the Spongebob and some kicks and flicks for a few bars with these almost military style arm movements, go into a spin, do the beginning again, do a cool version of the grapevine, hop, go back the other way, hop, and finally finish doing the Michael Jackson toes thing before jumping back into the chorus. He's fallen flat on his ass going from the Spongebob to the spin probably twelve times now.
"All day, every day is a holiday
We're alright, 24/seven
All day, every day all we gotta say
Is live your life, 24/seven
All day, every day is a holiday
We're alright, 24/seven
All day, every day everybody's saying
Live your life, 24/seven
Woooooo woooooooo 24/seven
Woooooo woooooooo 24/seven"
Drew fell on his ass again, causing an outburst of frustration from Chris that I couldn't help but laugh at. He saw me sitting up there and smiled and waved me down. I cocked my head at him and he yelled that he wanted me to come down to the stage. I quickly made my way down and joined him on the stage.
"You suck at this." I commented at the number of times he's screwed up the routine. Chris sighed.
"Like you could do it better." Drew scoffed. I raised an eyebrow at him in defiance. I'm good at choreography. I've already got the routine memorized. I could totally do it better than him. We get competitive about this sort of thing. We get along great, but at the end of the day he's still my brother and I'm still his sister, so naturally we can't get along all the time.
"I bet she could." Chris spoke up. Then he looked like he had an idea. "Actually, maybe I should make her do it to shame you into doing it right. You know the routine?" He mused, smiling evilly when I nodded in confirmation. I'm actually a very good dancer for some strange reason, so I didn't hesitate when Chris asked and that's why he had the idea in the first place. I helped Drew out with some of the dancing from the tour he opened on last year. Chris had the sound guy cue up the music and when it got to the beginning of the chorus I jumped into the dance.
I won't lie, the choreography is hard, but I didn't have too much trouble with it. The thing that's hard is that you build up so much momentum that when you go to spin, your body wants to spin out. It's all about keeping your arms tight so that you keep up the momentum and don't get off balance. After I finished Drew gave me a playful dirty look and Chris and I shared a cocky high-five.
"I hate you, you know that?" Drew asked, trying to look mad but not doing very well at it.
"Love you too." I replied, winking at him dorkily. Later that night, we all went back to the hotel and got a good night's sleep. Tomorrow was the first show on the tour, so Drew as adamant about getting enough sleep. Seeing as his morning would start at 4:30 tomorrow, that meant going to bed at 8:30. Drew and I are rooming together, so I too went to bed at the same time as all the ninety year olds in the world.
Hi again! I said I might be able to get Chapter Three up by tonight and here it is. I hope you guys enjoy it!
Song lyrics used in this chapter from 24/7 by Big Time Rush